Car-coupling



ITZER, GAR OUPLING,

. Mod

No. 517,967. Patented Apr. 10, 18,94.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC GEORGE SWITZER, OF LODI, OHIO.

CAR-COUPLING. I.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,967,dated April 10,1894.

$erial No. 479,480. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SWITZER, a citi zen of the United States,residing at Lodi,'in the county of Medina and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplers; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to 1ink-and-pin car couplers, and the inventionconsists in certain improvements of construction hereinafter fully setforth whereby the proper automatic coupling of the cars is facilitated.

The improvements reside, first, in the means for holding and adjustingthe coupling-link to enable it to enter coupling-heads of varyingheights, second, in the means for holding the coupling-pin in itselevated position before coupling and permitting it to drop to engagethe link when the drawheads come together, and third, in means forpreventing the coupling-pin from being jolted out of engagement with thelink.

The drawings illustrate the drawheads of adjacent cars with theimprovements applied thereto.

Figure 1, is 'a central longitudinal vertical section of the twoadjacent coupling-heads with the coupling mechanism in position toautomatically couple the cars when the drawheads come together. Fig. 2,is a side elevation of the coupling-head supporting the link. Fig. 3, isa front view of the coupling head with the coupling-pin ready to engagewith the link. Fig. 4, is ahorizontal section of the coupling-head inthe plane indicated by the dotted line 4-4 in Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is avertical transverse section on the line 5-5 in Fig. 4, showing a detailof construction.

Each drawhead A, is formed with a longitudinal cavitya. cextendinginward from the front face of the coupling-head, a vertical pinhole 1)near the front of the coupling-head, and

an oblique slot dbelow thelongitudinal cavity. The forward flaringportion a of the longitudinal cavity constitutes the usual opening intowhich the coupling-link A enters to engage with the coupling-pin, saidopening being continued back into the draw-head to form the cylindricalbore 0 within which fits and slides a cylindrical bar or bolt 0 forholding the coupling-pin in an elevated position preparatory to couplingthe cars. The vertical hole b is the usual pin-hole intersecting thecavity a and accommodating the coupling-pin B. part of the coupling-headbelow the link cavity a and forms a guide for the sliding linkset Dhereinafter more particularly described. The bar or bolt 0 within thecontinuation c of the link cavity a, is designed to be moved forwardwhen it is desired to elevate one of the coupling-pins of approachingcars preparatory to coupling, the pin being first raised and the bolt 0then advanced so that its front end projects across the pin-hole b andsupports the pin in its raised position. The bolt is of cylindrical formsliding freely within its cylindricalcavity c, this form of bar makingthe movementmore smooth and easy.

An operating stud s is formed on the side of the bolt 0, and extendsinto a bayonet groove or slot 25 cut in the side of the coupling-head.The bolt is moved out manually (by manipulation of the stud s) tosupport the coupling-pin, and then when the cars come together theboltis automatically pushed back and is locked by the stud s entering thedownwardly-projecting portion of the slot t (see Fig; 2). The stud 8should project but little (if any) outside of the slot so as not toprotrude objeotionably, and in order to give at the same time sufficientspace for the fingers to manipulate the stud the lower margin of thelongitudinal portion of the slot is beveled or cut away obliquely asindicated in the drawings at 25' (Figs. 2 and 5). If preferred, themanual operation of bolt 0 may be dispensed with and the bolt renderedcompletely automatic in its action by omitting the stud s and slot 25and putting a coiled spring behind the bolt, as has been heretofore donein this class of car-couplers, so that when the couppling-pin is raisedthe bolt will be automatically projected by the spring and the pin heldelevated until the bolt is pushed back by the link of the approachingcar. Y

The link-set D consists of the stem D which extends through the slot d,and the link-sup- The oblique slot 01 traverses the lower porting plateD carried at the upper forward end of said stem. The slot (1 extendsobliquely through the lower portion of the coupling-head, beingintersected by the pin-hole b, and the forward end of the slot (1 isjust below the link cavity a. While the plate D of the link-setremainsin its most inward position against the front of the coupling-head, itdoes not affect the position of the couplinglink; but when the link-setis moved forward, the plate D stands below and supports the projectingend of the coupling-link A, and the coupling-link can be set at anydesired angle (according as may be required by the height of thecoupling-head of the other car) by adjusting the position of thelink-set. Guided by the stem D and the slot cl, the link-supportingplate D will be raised higher and higher the farther forward it ismoved.

To prevent the link-set from being pulled entirely out of its slot cl,the stem Dis longitudinally slotted as shown (Figs.1,and 3), and thelower end of the coupling-pin B extending down through the pin-hole bstands within the slot of stem D, as shown at the left in Fig. 1, sothat the link-set can be drawn forward only until the rear end of theslot of stem D encounters the point of the coupling-pin B. Since thelink-set is only drawn out when the coupling-head carries a link, thecoupling-pin B of that coupling-head is never raised while the link-setis being manipulated, and so the.

coupling-pin is always in position to prevent the accidental removal ofthe link-set. But when the coupling-head is not carrying a link and thecoupling-pin is elevated, as at the right of Fig. 1, there is nooccasion to manipulate the link-set of that coupling-h sad at all, andthe link-set in that case is not retained by the coupling-pin but isretained within its inclined slot cl by gravity merely. In any case, ifit is desired to remove the link-set it is only necessary to raise thepoint of the coupling-pin out of engagement with the slotted stem D. Thefront of the coupling-head is recessed below the cavity a and around theforward end of slot d, as indicated at 00, Figs. 1 and 4, so as toaccommodate the link-supporting plate D when the link-set is pushed into its inward position. When the link-set is so pushed in, the plate Doccupies the recess a: and so does not project at all beyond the face ofthe coupling-head but is flush therewith forming practically a part ofthe front of the coupling-head. The top edge of plate D is concave andforms the lower margin of the orifice of link cavity a, as best shown inFig. 3. This concavity of the upper supporting edge of the plate D notonly makes the plate conform to the contour of the coupling-head whenthe link-set is pushed in but also better adapts the plate to supportthe link when the link-set is in use.

The means provided for holding the coupling-pin after it has droppedinto engagement with the link consists of a retaining projection formedon the top of the coupling head with which the pin automatically engageswhen itfalls and which prevents the pin from being accidentally joltedout but at the same time permits the ready disengagement of the pin whenit is desired to raise the same to nncouple the cars. l

The construction is as followsz-Upon the top of the coupling-head nearthe pin-hole b is formed an overhanging lug or catch-plate m, which isrigidly attached to the couplinghead and is preferably cast integraltherewith. As illustrateththe lug m is located directl y in front of thepin-hole and nearly overhangs the front margin of the hole. Opposite tothe lug m and adjacent to the opposite margin of the hole I), is anincline 0 which slopes backward and upward from the pinhole. Thecoupling-pin B is formed with an annular flange a near its upper endextending horizontally, and this flange, co-operating with the lug m andincline 0, effects the auto matic securing of the pin. When the pinfalls, one edge of the flange n slides down the incline o and thusguides the opposite edge of the flange under the overhanging lug orcatch-plate m. The pin-hole b is of such diameter as to give a slightlateral play to the coupling-pin,and this permits the flange n of thepin to be guided laterally into the recess beneath lug m. The lug moverhanging the flange n of the pin prevents the Vertical displacementof the pin by any jolting or jarring of the cars, but when it is desiredto lift the pin the lug m constitutes no 0bstruction because the pinneed only be moved slightly toward the incline 0 thus freeing flange nfrom lug m and allowing the pin to be raised.

Before coupling, the two adjacent couplers are arranged as shown in Fig.1,0f the drawings, the link A of one coupler being held at the properheight by the link-set D, and the pin B, of the other coupler being heldelevated by the pin-holding bolt 0. When the two cars come together, thelink A- enters the link cavity a of the other coupler, pressing back thebolt 0 and letting the coupling-pin B drop into engagement with thelink, and at the same time the link-set D which was supporting the linkA is pushed in by the impact of the opposing coupling-head. The entireoperation of coupling is thus automatic, and the couplingpin alsoengages automatically with its retaining catch-plate m, as j nstdescribed. To uncouple, the coupling-pin B is merely raised, and is heldelevated if desired by the sliding bolt 0.

In preparation for coupling, the co-operating link and pin of theapproaching cars are 1. The coupling-head having the recess 03 below andadjacent to the orifice of the link cavity, in combination with thelink-supporting plate D which in its inoperative position occupiessaidrecess and which has a concave upper edge constituting in itsinoperative position the lower margin of said orifice, substantially asset forth.

2. In a car-coupler, the coupling-pin B and pin-hole b, in combinationwith the inclined slot (1 intersecting the lower portion of saidpin-hole, and the link-set D having slotted stem D adapted to slide insaid inclined slot (1, the slot of said stem D' registering with thepin-hole b and embracing the point of the coupling-pin, substantially asset forth.

3. The sliding bolt 0 having operating stud s, in combination with theslot twhich said stud enters having a beveled margin 13, substantiallyas set forth.

4. In a car-coupler, the coupling-head 0 having pin-hole b, and thecoupling-pin B,in

combination with a stationary lug m adjacent Witnesses:

H. E. ALBERT, S. L. DYER.

GEORGE SWITZER.

